By Microsoft’s hosted applications moves?
They should be!
If there was a software CEO not directly touched by Microsoft before today, it was Benioff.
Well, not anymore!
Boy, what a loudmouth he has been!
If you look at the easily-surmountable head start he has in his spaces, hosted CRM and salesforce automation, you sorta realize why he constantly flapped his gums derisively towards Microsoft.
He was afraid!
Truly petrified!
Both of Microsoft's entry into that space, and the fact that he didn't have a compelling development story, the stuff* he's throwing at rhe wall notwithstanding. (*Appexchange, Apex)
And now, the battle begins in earnest.
In Microsoft, Salesforce.com has a deep-pocketed, able, dedicated, and best of all, a ruthless competitor!
With Microsoft not only entering the field but also committed to constantly improving their hosted products, homie is in very deep kimchi.
Attach the fact that the Microsoft platform(s) have a gazillion number of developers crankin’ out stuff for them, I cannot but see Salesforce.com’s market share tank.
Now he has the opportunity to use open source to see if he can pedal fast enough!
Prediction: in the next 24-36 month period, CRM becomes another division of ORCL, just like that other company by yet another ex-Oracle employee, the company formerly known as SEBL.
As they say in the ‘hood: It’s on!
Do you use Salesforce.com products? Will you evaluate Microsoft’s hosted offerings?Tell us here or email me at John.Obeto@absolutevista.com
Visit Microsoft Subnet for more opinions and news. http://www.networkworld.com/subnets/microsoft/
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That is the lamest article
That is the lamest article I've ever read. Perhaps you should base your opinions on some facts before you make wild assumptions. Please take the time to read the most recent Gartner reports on SFA and Service & Support and come back with something intelligent to say.
SFDC should be worried about smaller rivals not Microsoft
Salesforce.com roughly generates 50% of the hosted CRM revenues, and the rest is generated by other hosted CRM providers such as Netsuite, RightNow, Salesboom.com, etc.
SFDC should be worried about these little players more so than Microsoft's:
1) Microsoft has not even released a beta yet!
2) Microsoft promises to release the product late 2008, and even then I don't believe it will be a full CRM package. Also Most companies will not jump on the Microsoft's wagon, not before 2-3 years.
3) Many companies don't like to trust their data to Microsoft
4) Oracle, SAP and other giants are also going after the same market
As far as Salesforce.com being acquired by ORACLE, I totally agree!
While the market is actually growing by over 100% yearly, and while Salesforce.com is increasing revenues, the little guys are stealing market share quickly, easily and silently.
Some rejoinders
1) However, Microsoft has had a desktop product for a long while
2) Your beliefs, while seemingly valid, are so not true as regards a) the release of CRM Live, b) the richness of the CRM Live feature set, and, c) the2-3 year lead-in for companies. It must be your contention that moving a product such as CRM/SFA products online requires some mysterious, arcane process that Salesforce.com only possesses. It does not.
3) $55 billion USD in revenue for this FY proves that your assertion that many companies don't like to trust their data to Microsoft is either patently wrong, or you are regurgitating urban myths about Microsoft you have read or heard.
4) Oracle, SAP, and the remaining small fry (what other giants?) going after the same market does not mean a thing. Actually, it does. Oracle and SAP are formidable competitors, and I do not expect to see anything other than blood in the water from coming battles with them. Everyone else, including a stand-alone Salesforce.com is cannon fodder.
Remember SQL databases? DB2 and Oracle? Between them they had, like 80% of the market. IBM and Oracle. Now it is SQL Server, Oracle, and DB2. In that order.
Remember messaging? Lotus Notes and Groupwise? Novell and IBM? Also had 80%+ of the market. Now it is Exchange, a dying or soon-to-be-irrelevant Notes, and for some myopians, Groupwise (or whatever it goes by today).
Salesforce.com may be growing by 100% today, but total revenues are still less than a rounding error for Redmond.
However, that kind of growth, coupled with Benioff's desire to be the next Scott McNealy (why, why?) cannot, and should not go unchecked.
Why?
He (Benioff) just might be into The Next Big Thing, and as a result, the executives at 1, Microsoft Way, must execute their fiduciary duty to shareholders and stakeholders by competing and dominating.
Microsoft's small market share in such cases is actually a boon to MSFT as it allows them to quickly and efficiently discard product features and strategies that are not working without worrying too much about legacy installations.
A read of your site and your top 10 list of why CRM should not fear Microsoft revealed the following fallacy: that prices do not matter.
Are you kidding?
What was Salesforce.com's claim to fame in the beginning? Don't remember?
Traipse over to the Wayback Machine to perform a refresher, then review that assertion.
Finally, you also state that Microsoft's partner positioning is unclear. Live Search Microsoft.com for informative disclosures.
Thanks for visiting and commenting. If you find me in error, do not hesitate to correct me.